Cornerstone Planning LLC Invests $2.51 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Cornerstone Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 16,196 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,508,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BX. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,233.72. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 9,487,234 shares of company stock valued at $189,789,892 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:BX opened at $123.78 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $121.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.